Of the 11 HPS peaks in section 32, 9 of them are located in the Cuyamaca and Laguna Mountains in the central part of San Diego County. The area is mostly
comprised of rolling terrain that seems to be in a perpetual state of
recovery from
fires. The most dramatic views are on the eastern escarpment of the Laguna Mtns
where the land drops some 5,000ft down to the desert floor below. Garnet Peak
has probably the best views of this, which led to its recommendation in Jerry
Schad's Afoot and Afield in San Diego County. Along with Garnet Peak I
had climbed several others in the list of nine years before I knew about the HPS.
Without actually totalling up the miles and elevation gain, I got it in my
head to see if I could do all nine in a single day during the Christmas holiday,
what I called
The Laguna Nine (never mind that four are in the Cuyamaca Mtns). It would
be an exercise in, well, exercise. There were also three additional peaks that
had been excised from the HPS list for various reasons which I would keep in
mind as bonuses. I ended the day with 8 of the 9 HPS peaks along with one of the
bonus peaks.

Leaving San Diego, I headed east on I8, taking about an hour to reach the TH for
Sheephead Mtn, a short distance on a good dirt road off the Sunrise Highway.
Leaving the car around 6a, it was just growing light - I needed my headlamp to
read my map, but not to navigate the eroding dirt road that serves as a trail for
most of the way. I had no trouble finding my way to
Kitchen Creek according to
the HPS directions,
and just after sunrise I found myself atop the peak around 7a. The early morning
light provided some of the more dramatic views of the day. The
summit blocks are
easy to climb (class 2), and in some descriptions they are supposed to look like
a sheep's head (giving rise to the name). They looked like a couple of large
boulders to my unimaginative mind. I was back to the TH before 8a.

Next up was
Cuyapaipe, a few miles further up the Sunrise Hwy, then down another
excellent dirt road to the TH. The route description includes mention of
'gnarly bushwhacking' for a short distance to avoid some
private property which
is encountered in the first half mile from the TH. Finding the
property boundary
along the road I hiked, I left the road to investigate the bushwhack. Gnarly
seemed an appropriate description and I balked, heading back to the road. If
you read the route description carefully, you find mention of "Although it
bypasses the gnarly brush push, do not go past the 'No Trespassing' sign and
continue about 70 yards to a fence crossing on the left: we do not have
permission to transit this private property." Therein lies the key to this
whole hike - 70 yards of illegal hiking will save much thrashing. So of course I
did just what I was warned not to do. No snipers picked me off during the
transit and no crazed landowner jumped out of the brush to prosecute me (or
worse). Once
back on the other side of the fence, I wandered cross-country until I found
signs of a use trail leading to the peak, a ducked trail marking the climb up
a semi-steep gully. I found the summit crowned with a small communications
tower
powered by solar cells. Evidence of an
earlier solar installation that had been
blown down still littered the summit rocks. I found no summit register neither
at the highpoint or at the pile of rocks to
the south that the HPS description
indicates holds the register. I left the summit area shortly after 9a and headed
back the same way.

Continuing up the Sunrise Hwy, I stopped at
Stephenson Peak (a delisted peak) for
a brief visit. An air traffic
installation now crowns the summit, but a host of
other abandoned
buildings and a large tower gave evidence of overdevelopment well
into the past. After breaching the perimeter fence (ok, I stepped across the
locked gate), I climbed around
inside the tower, now littered with graffiti and
debris, looked elsewhere around the summit area, then headed back to the car.

Around 10:15a I headed out from the highway for a short hike to
Monument Peak. I
passed by a couple of scary-looking (but friendly enough)
bow hunters dressed
head to toe in camoflage. At the summit a half hour later, I found to no great
surprise - more telecommunication
installations. But there was also a register
and a fine view down the escarpment to the Anza-Borrego Desert below.
The Santa Rosas and even San Jacinto could be seen to the north and
northeast.

The next two peaks were similarly short, Garnet Peak and Garnet Mtn. I was atop
the first around noon and took in the finest
views of the day. This was a fine
summit for a long lunch and nature appreciation moment (not that I did so myself,
but I would recommend it to others!). In contrast, Garnet Mtn
is a mere bump
along the highway, and without the HPS directions it would not garner any
attention at all. The most interesting feature was a memorial
plaque near the
TH to a Richard Zadorozny who had died almost six years earlier. The epitaph
on the memorial and signs indication the area had been used in the past for
hang gliding, led me to conclude the 55yr-old gentleman had met his demise in
a hanggliding accident. I found nothing by googling him later.

Driving around to Cuyamaca State Park, I stopped at the general store at Lake
Cuyamaca for a bag of chips and a soda - lunch for the day.
I then drove south along the highway a short
distance further where I parked to start my loop for the next three in the list,
Middle, Cuyamaca, and Stonewall. My rough estimate (hope) was that I could get
to the top of Middle in an hour, to Cuyamaca in another hour, Stonewall an hour
after that, and then half an hour to return (I was about 45 minutes longer than
the plan). I left the car at 1p,
munching chips and sipping soda as I headed off to Middle Peak. This
whole area had been badly
burned in the devastating fires of 2003. Of course
"badly" and "devastating" are words that people apply and aren't really
applicable if you take people out of the equation. Like many areas of California,
this one has evolved with burning as a regular part of the ecosystem, and from
what I could see only two years later, the area was already recovering nicely.
The dead, burned trees stood in stark contrast to the green brush developing
beautifully on the ground. Though not yet widely dispersed, small pine trees
could be found sprouting from the ashes that have enriched the soil.
I think we
find it "devastating" when a forest is lost that won't recover in our lifetime,
but that is a very self-centered view. In the larger scheme, the land will
recover quite nicely, even if we're not around to see it.

Middle Peak has no business being on any peak list. It's rounded summit offers
no views whatsoever,
even with all the trees burnt to a crisp. The slopes on
all sides are modest, and the trails are all old jeep roads. There is a tall
summit cairn amidst the forest at the top. The PVC summit
register, blistered and
partially melted during the fire, is still in use. Leaving the top shortly after
2p, I headed south towards Cuyamaca. I came across a couple at
the saddle between
the two peaks, briefly greeting them as I continued up to Cuyamaca. I left the
Azalea Spring road to take the Conejo Trail to the summit.
The signs at the
junction were burned badly, and it was easy to miss the turn off. The trail is
more rugged than others found in the state park, and I enjoyed this hike up
along the NE flanks of Cuyamaca. The summit, the highest in the combined
Laguna/Cuyamaca ranges at just over 6,500ft,
has good views westward towards San Diego and
the coast. Line after line of lower ridges can be seen off to the horizon,
growing hazier with distance and the influence of the marine layer. There were
more installations at this summit as well,
and along with the trees that were
saved from the fire (looks like they saved some trees along with the
installations via some key water/chemical drops), one has to walk around a bit
to get any other views. On the jog back down I ran into the same couple again, as
well as a few other groups heading back down for the day. The day was getting
on and it looked like I would be using the headlamp before I was done.

It was just before 4p when I got back to the highway and started up the
Stonewall Peak Trail.
This was the deluxe trail of the park, evidently highly used, and
highly maintained. Signs at the TH discouraged cutting switchbacks, and an
elaborate array of wooden
fencing was erected to help enforce it. Frankly, the
clean wooden fence looked silly in contrast to the burned forest that the trail
wound its way through.
Stonewall Peak itself is probably the best looking peak
in the whole area, crowned with a massive wall of granite that looks pretty
good from most angles. The summit would make a nice, airy class 3 scramble if
it weren't for the railing and blasting that were used in eons past to make it
accessible to the masses.
I learned afterwards that there are a number of technical
routes established on the impressive SW Face for those disinclined to use the
trail. I found myself alone at the railing-enclosed summit shortly
before sunset around 4:30p. I snapped a few photos and headed down.

The sun set during the 45 minute descent, the evening sky
aglow just before I returned to the TH. Back at the car,
I came across the same couple for yet a
third time as we ended our hikes at the same time. They had just returned from
Cuyamaca and were as amused as I at our several meetings during the afternoon.
I wasted no time heading south on the highway, finding the TH for the day's
last peak, Oakzanita. It was dark now, and I had debated on the drive the
wisdom of pursuing this last peak of the day. The route description had mention
of "dense poison oak" and the thought of wading through such treachery by
headlamp seemed a bit crazy to put it mildly. Knowing I would regret not trying
later, I headed off down the road for the last 5 1/2 miles of the day. I didn't
get far. After the first half mile, I found the turnoff for the Upper Descanso
Trail, but could not locate the use trail that reportedly forks off
it near the stream
crossing. Back and forth I went several times, looking for foot prints, cairns,
a path through the brush, anything that would indicate a faint trail. The
alternative route would add 2 1/2 miles to the outing, and now that it was past
6p I decided to head back. Continuing would mean returning to San Diego sometime
after 10p which might cause more worry for the family than was reasonable to
allow. Back I went to the car - Oakzanita would have to wait for another day,
when I was in a better position to navigate the route and battle the poison oak.

Anonymous comments
on 09/07/10:
I stumbled across this article while also googling the gentleman who had supposedly died in a hang gliding accident. I was at that peak yesterday and saw the plaque so was curious as well. Like yourself, I've come up with nothing in my online search of the gentleman, other than what you've written here. Spectacular view from that point, though, isn't it?